biosciences on the internet

Biosciences on the Internet Biosciences on the Internet: A Student’s Guide. Author: Georges Dussart Copyright & 2002 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Print ISBN 0-471-49842-4 Online ISBN 0-470-84660-7 Biosciences on the Internet A Student’s Guide Georges Dussart Canterbury Christ Church, University College, UK JOHN WILE Y & SONS, LTD Biosciences on the Internet: A Student’s Guide. Author: Georges Dussart Copyright & 2002 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Print ISBN 0-471-49842-4 Online ISBN 0-470-84660-7 Copyright # 2002 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Baffins Lane, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1UD, England National 01243 779777 International (+44) 1243 779777 e-mail (for orders and customer service enquiries): cs-books@wiley.co.uk Visit our Home Page on http://www.wileyeurope.com or http://www.wiley.com All Rights Reserved. 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Author: Georges Dussart Copyright & 2002 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Print ISBN 0-471-49842-4 Online ISBN 0-470-84660-7 Contents Preface xi Introduction 1 What is the internet? 2 The principles and some basic terminology 5 The historical context of the internet 15 Part 1 Teaching and learning in relation to the internet 21 1 Approaching the internet 23 1.1 Integrity and learning 23 1.1.1 Intellectual honesty 23 1.1.2 Assimilation 24 1.1.3 Why have we gone through a discussion on mind expansion and cheating? 24 1.1.4 Not only the internet! 25 1.1.5 What to print, what to keep? A problem of using the hardware 27 1.1.6 Save time and money . . . 28 1.1.7 Don’t be tempted to use cheat sites 28 1.2 Managing files 29 1.2.1 How the computer works with files 29 1.2.2 File extensions 31 1.2.3 File managing 32 1.2.4 Tips on file handling 37 1.2.5 Multitasking 38 1.3 Self defence 41 1.3.1 Introduction 41 1.3.2 The need to be critical to identify the invalid 41 1.3.3 Malicious viruses 45 1.3.4 Innocuous viruses 45 1.3.5 Precaution checklist 46 2 Getting access to the internet 49 2.1 Introduction 49 Biosciences on the Internet: A Student’s Guide. Author: Georges Dussart Copyright & 2002 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Print ISBN 0-471-49842-4 Online ISBN 0-470-84660-7 2.2 Connecting up via an intranet 49 2.3 Connecting up independently 50 2.4 Connecting up via an internet service provider (ISP) 52 2.5 Browsers and general aspects of searching 52 2.6 The fundamentals of a web site 55 2.7 Bookmarks and Favorites 55 2.8 Your first search 58 2.8.1 Making a search – the client requests . . . 58 2.8.2 . . . and the server responds 59 2.8.3 Avoiding distractions 59 2.8.4 What is the composition of the web address URL (uniform resource locator)? 61 2.8.5 Types of organisation which can be identified from the URL 63 2.8.6 Error messages 64 3 Citation guidelines for the use of internet materials by students 65 3.1 Introduction 65 3.2 Advice on citing and listing URLs 65 3.3 Ten commandments of citation 68 3.4 Some advice to tutors 69 3.4.1 Making contact with authors 69 3.4.2 Following up links in students’ work 70 3.4.3 Directing students to appropriate web sites 70 3.4.4 A caveat about exclusion 70 3.5 Placing your references in an assignment 71 3.6 Specifications for references 71 3.6.1 Citation of www, FTP, Gopher or Telnet sources 71 3.6.2 Email citation 72 3.7 Copyright and plagiarism 73 3.7.1 Introduction 73 3.7.2 Copyright 74 3.7.3 The need for prudence 74 3.7.4 URL references on plagiarism and copyright 75 4 Evaluation of software and web sites 77 4.1 Evaluating the mechanical aspects of a web site 77 4.2 Designing your own web site 78 4.3 Evaluating the intellectual content of a web site 79 4.4 Working backwards through a web address 80 4.5 Hidden URL web addresses and how to get round them 85 vi Contents 4.6 Academically reliable web sites 89 4.6.1 Academic journal web sites 89 4.6.2 Museum web sites 90 4.6.3 Learned society web sites 91 4.6.4 Newspapers, magazines and news services 92 4.6.5 Broadcasting institutions 93 4.6.6 Review journals 93 4.6.7 Bibliographic on-line services 95 4.6.8 Companion web sites 101 4.6.9 Freely available back issues of major journals 105 4.7 What kinds of literature sources will earn the best credit with tutors at undergraduate level? 108 5 Search engines 109 5.1 Types of search engine 109 5.2 The logic of a search 109 5.3 Search engines compared 111 5.4 List of other search engines 114 5.5 Analysing the results from a search engine (Google) 115 5.6 Problems when the search engine does not reveal the URL of the target site 116 6 Email 119 6.1 Introduction 119 6.2 Additional useful features of email 120 6.3 Contacting experts 121 6.4 Raptorial birds – a dialogue between enthusiasts 123 6.5 Newsgroups and list servers 125 6.5.1 Newsgroups 126 6.5.2 Mailing lists 127 6.6 Example of a group discussion – exposure to ionising radiation and the onset of leukaemia 129 6.7 Working off-line 130 6.8 Caveats about email, newsgroups and lists 130 6.9 Having a professional attitude 131 7 Approaches to preparing a biosciences assignment 133 7.1 Introduction 133 7.2 Getting started on the assignment 133 7.3 Contexts and change-overs 134 7.4 Good practice for avoiding catastrophe 136 Contents vii 7.5 Writing an essay 137 7.5.1 The mediocre approach 137 7.5.2 The efficient and appropriate approach 137 7.5.3 The zen approach 138 7.5.4 A cynical approach 138 7.6 Writing a practical report 140 7.7 Bibliographic referencing systems 142 7.8 Making an oral presentation 144 7.8.1 Introduction 144 7.8.2 Preparation of a story line 145 7.8.3 Preparation of the materials 145 7.8.4 Oral presentation checklist 146 7.8.5 Preparing a poster 147 7.8.6 Finally . . . 149 8 Pinching materials from the web 151 8.1 Introduction 151 8.2 To pinch an image . . . 151 8.3 To pinch some html code . . . 153 8.4 Pinching web pages 157 8.5 Pinching a complete web site 158 8.6 Poking around a web site 159 9 Websites which present the work of students 161 Part 2 Examples of searches 163 10 Microbes 165 11 Example of a university web site 173 12 A typical general search – the wreck of the Sea Empress 179 13 Searching a typical government site – mad cow disease 187 14 Using the web for bioscience shopping 193 15 Whaling – freedom of enquiry 197 5.1 International Network for Whaling Research 197 5.2 The Norwegian government position 203 5.3 The International Whaling Commission 209 16 Searching via research groups 219 viii Contents Part 3 Final destinations 225 17 An eclectic list of web sites 227 18 Websites for the school syllabus 281 18.1 Introduction 281 18.2 Keys for the list 282 19 Conclusion 295 Appendix Getting the computer going 297 Hardware basics 297 Software basics 300 Special needs 300 Glossary 301 References 311 Index 313 Contents ix Preface While bringing advantages of depth, scope and communication, the ease with which information, ranging from excellent to poor quality, can be obtained from the internet presents problems of both quality and quantity. Copyright is also a serious issue. In journals, periodicals and books, the reader can be sure that the work has been critically evaluated before publication. Although there are cases of extreme views on the internet, it is usually easy to recognise these for what they are. However, there may be more subtle situations where a naive student might not recognise that information is unreliable, or that a particular line is being adopted by the author. Teachers are likely to find it difficult to keep up with the wealth of rapidly changing information and the student undertaking research may be substantially alone in ‘hyperspace’. Peter Boyce has suggested that in future the whole internet may be the electronic journal; sophisticated search programs could mean that there is only one journal, and it is the internet. Students need to be aware of the need for care when they are loose on the internet. Even primary school children (5–11 y) are being introduced to the internet and education for prudence therefore needs to begin at a young age. The development of a prudent attitude should be guided and monitored by both parents and teachers and this book represents a contribution to this effort. The aims of the book are to: . introduce bioscience students to procedures for efficiently using the internet; . review the benefits and problems of internet use, including issues of copyright and plagiarism; . review a range of bioscience sites. These have been classified on the basis of the England and Wales advanced-level curriculum studied by 16–18-year-old biology students, but many other bioscience sites have been included. Biosciences on the Internet: A Student’s Guide. Author: Georges Dussart Copyright & 2002 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Print ISBN 0-471-49842-4 Online ISBN 0-470-84660-7 The book is therefore primarily aimed at senior secondary school students and first year undergraduates but should be useful for teachers of biosciences at all levels. Some sections are specifically addressed to teachers (e.g. 3.4). As an experienced university tutor, I am aware that many students lack essential skills in some areas of their performance. Consequently, the brief was extended to include aspects such as essay writing, poster presentations and organisation of information. These skills do not directly underpin use of the internet but will almost certainly be employed in relation to the downloading of information. The Higher Education Funding Council in the UK is now specifying the nature of study skills for university programmes. Generic patterns of skills are appearing. While the sources used in a literature search might differ from subject to subject, the nature of the investigation may transcend disciplines. For example, a historian might investigate county court records and a biologist might investigate the raw data held by the Environmental Agency. However, the methodology in both disciplines uses a similar kind of logic. Consequently, this book was not intended to be a directory of methods which are unique to biosciences but was intended to offer common-sense advice on how to use the internet in a biosciences context. Although the book addresses generic issues, it is written by a particular kind of biologist – in this case an ecologist. It therefore presents my subjective view as an experienced university teacher. Nevertheless, I would like to think that a molecular biologist might have written a similar kind of book, though the examples would undoubtedly differ. Although I have tried to focus on biological examples throughout the text, hopefully the book will be useful to students from a range of disciplines. Of necessity, most of the images and procedures have to relate to a particular system. In this case, I have tended to use Netscape rather than Internet Explorer. Currently, the former has more useful features, is easier to use and is more sophisticated. I have also occasionally referred to Windows-based software packages such as the word processor package Microsoft Word. Apple users should find that the advice is general enough to apply to Apple systems too. The book has three parts. Part 1 concerns basic principles of using the internet, including issues of plagiarism (‘copying’), and evaluation of quality in web sites and managing files. In Part 2, the reader is guided through some typical searches. I have tried to make this section as readable as possible; ideally it will entertain as well as be instructive. Part 3 is an annotated list of web sites; these are websites that appear to contain reliable information and appear to be relatively stable in time. To check the xii Preface [...]... followed by the first and last dates on which the web site was visited The length of this period gives some idea of the stability and permanence of the site 2 Introduction Figure I.1 Exponential increase in the number of computers which host web information Source: Internet Software Consortium http://www.isc.org/ds/hosts.html 5/4/01–5/7/01 WHAT IS THE INTERNET? In this text, the ‘web’ and the internet ... the information is located You go to the source of the information as a virtual visitor rather than a real visitor The information is held on a web site The web site can include one, several or even thousands of pages However, the internet is not perfect Bruce Royan (2000) has likened it to a car boot sale rather than a digital network and Tim Berners Lee (2000), who invented the language used on the. .. illustrates the general purposes of the site 2 A clickable index to the pages which make up the site 3 A final section which describes who wrote the pages and how they can be contacted A web site usually includes two frames One frame contains information that you might want to refer to at any time while you are visiting the site The other frame contains a page which is linked to other pages The whole... television 4 Introduction Fig I.3 The internet is literally a network chat with others on- line investigate goods and services – for example check your bank account One of the major attributes of the internet is that information can be found easily and quickly, and often at low cost The digital electronic processes which underpin the system allow you to search efficiently for the information you need... the internet are used interchangeably The ‘world wide web’ is a particular domain of the internet The internet is the total of all the computers in the world which are connected together and exchanging information with each other It is a dynamic, growing structure As more computers are added to the system it grows ever more extensive and comprehensive The internet has two major capabilities Firstly,... select sites which were appropriate to the level of the students concerned To try to make what could be a dry subject more readable, I have used the personal pronoun (‘I’) where there is an action, such as a search, which I have undertaken personally The second person (‘you’) has been used when offering advice on what the reader might do in a particular situation In general, I have assumed that readers... clear organisation, coloured illustrations and lucid sentence constructions (for example, Guttman, 1999; Fig I.6) An innovation was to supply banks of self-test questions so that students could take some responsibility for their own learning Like Roberts, these books attempted to attract students into the subject, to motivate them, to guide their learning and, ultimately, to pass them on to new, higher... Yahoo 109, 111, 126, 230, 236 Biosciences on the Internet: A Student’s Guide Author: Georges Dussart Copyright & 2002 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Print ISBN 0-471-49842-4 Online ISBN 0-470-84660-7 Introduction In his history of the origins of the internet, John Naughton (1999) quotes the poet Yeats, saying ‘a terrible beauty is born’ As it is currently organised, the newborn internet is a global medium for... language used on the internet, said the web will always be ‘a little bit broken’ One of the major defects of the internet is that it offers a new way to steal, cheat, confuse and damage people It is not perfect and people must be careful So what are the issues faced by a student who wants to investigate biosciences via the internet? The Principles and Some Basic Terminology 5 There are four challenges:... experiences These books now have companion web sites which offer many kinds of student and tutor support materials (see section 4.6.8) Now, on the internet there are similar kinds of resources, often made available by authors who subscribe to the view that good information should be freely available Web pages usually have the same objectives as a book The web author hopes to attract the reader to visit the . 0-470-84660-7 Contents Preface xi Introduction 1 What is the internet? 2 The principles and some basic terminology 5 The historical context of the internet 15 Part 1 Teaching and learning in relation to the. Biosciences on the Internet Biosciences on the Internet: A Student’s Guide. Author: Georges Dussart Copyright & 2002 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Print ISBN 0-471-49842-4 Online ISBN. be the electronic journal; sophisticated search programs could mean that there is only one journal, and it is the internet. Students need to be aware of the need for care when they are loose on the